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Police hunt down stolen iPhone in chopper

Helicopter used to recover stolen iPhonePolice in Australia take iPhone theft seriously; so seriously, they will not hesitate to employ the use of a helicopter to nab a thief who has made off with one of Apple's prized mobile devices. The story begins in a hospital in Heidelberg, Australia where an iPhone was stolen from an unsuspecting woman. The woman's iPhone presumably had the now well-known Find My iPhone app setup installed, and the police used the app on another device or MobileMe to track and locate the iPhone in the neighboring suburb of Greensborough.

Lucky for the lady and her missing iPhone, a police helicopter was already in the area and was dispatched to the iPhone's GPS coordinates. The tracking was so accurate that the helicopter was able to spot the thief riding a stolen bike down a city street. The 16-year old suspect ditched the bike as soon as the helicopter was hovering above him (who wouldn't?) and ran towards the Tram to make a hasty escape.

The suspect was apprehended by police on the ground in Bundoora, and the unfortunate lad was caught with the stolen iPhone and some marijuana. He is now being charged with burglary, theft and the possession of cannabis. Mark that down as another win for the now free Find My iPhone service and another loss for iPhone thieves.

Thanks to Gavin B for sending this in!

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Police in Australia take iPhone theft seriously; so seriously, they will not hesitate to employ the use of a helicopter to nab a thief who...
 

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Nate

Nice to see that someone is taking this seriously. When my iPhone was stolen I unfortunately found out about the different GPS locating software after the fact.
I did find this website: http://www.stolen-property.com/ where you can report a stolen iPhone online. Hope it brings my beloved device back, my hand is so lonely =(

December 28 2010 at 2:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cenotaph

shenanigans!

folks. stop and think. think about how much money was wasted in this anecdotal story. helicopters cost a lot of money to operate. to fly. to fuel.

for a bloody iPhone? puh-lease.

shenanigans!

December 17 2010 at 3:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lucidfuse

Man, I wish they did that here when it was stolen right out of my office at work. Apple's and AT&T's responses were even better than my company's: sorry, that phone has been reactivated, but we can't give you our customer's information due to privacy concerns. Thanks a lot, a-holes.

December 17 2010 at 9:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Greg

I wondered why the stolen iPhone was in the chopper, and then I realized that the headline should read 'Police in chopper hunt down stolen iPhone."

December 17 2010 at 7:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
stinhoutx

As exciting as the stories are, they unfortunately seem to be more the exception than the rule, at least in the US. In my experience, which may be heavily influenced by my local area, there was no way I could use MobileMe to track my devices in realtime.

In one case, I was trying to locate my wife's stolen phone as it traveled around the area. The time between refreshes was too long to use in that capacity. Even when I did manage to narrow down a location when they stopped, they just turn the phone off when I tried to send notices or force the audio alert. The second time, yes I considered switching her to a disposable phone, the thief just turned the device off from the start. Also, in neither case was there a lot of interest from the police in locating the phones by other means, though I had all of the device information that would have facilitated that.

Even today, when I check on the location of the current phone, it doesn't show it traveling along when it's in motion. There should be a "pursuit" mode which actively updates in near real time. And a wifi/Bluetooth mode that acts as a transponder once you get close enough. :-)

I figure the Houston case was helped out by the fact the thieves actively confronted the victims, where in my cases the phones were lifted stealthily.

December 16 2010 at 4:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PJ Warren

Who wouldn't prefer an iPhone after reading a story like this?

If someone steals my phone a police helicopter will be promptly deployed to hunt them down.

That's freaking awesome!

December 16 2010 at 12:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Beverly Price

Here's a very similar story from yesterday in Houston: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/7341264.html

December 16 2010 at 11:19 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Beverly Price's comment
Raj

Damn, that story is a lot more exciting!

"Two constables pursued the driver until he exited the freeway onto Katy-Fort Bend Road. The truck crashed and spun around when the driver missed a corner at the Pin Oak overpass, Laine said. The driver, who was alone, then took ran westward as the vehicle went up in flames."

December 16 2010 at 3:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

"iPhone presumably had the now well-known Find My iPhone app installed and the police used the app to track and locate the iPhone in the neighboring suburb of Greensborough. "

Since when does any app need to be installed for find my iPhone to work? And it seems a bit difficult for police to use an app installed on the missing iPhone to find said iPhone.

December 16 2010 at 11:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
4 replies to Mike's comment
macbitz

Caught in possession of a mind-altering substance.... an iPhone!

December 16 2010 at 11:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bravus

Trams in Greensborough? Not likely. I drove a train to Greensborough today. The closest tram is the route 86 in Bundoora, which is a decent bike ride from Greensborough!

(For those playing at home, these are all suburbs of Melbourne)

December 16 2010 at 11:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Bravus's comment
Kelly Hodgkins

The report does not say where got on the tram. He was apprehended in Bundoora so maybe he did bike a long way before they caught up with him.

December 16 2010 at 11:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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